A long post is due from me, I know, and will be put together over the weekend. I just wanted to flag this news - The International Criminal Court has appointed Professor Catherine Mackinnon as it's advisor on gender crimes....

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I'm fairly sure we must have done this one before, but in case we didn't, here's 12 helpful suggestions for men in feminist settings (including this one, by the way). And, y'know, they are really worth reprinting here: 1. Realize...

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Yesterday I made a note to blog about the three women and one man short list for the Turner Prize. I optimistically wrote might help with their dreadful gender ratio for winners as only three women have won it since...

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Today is World Aids Day - there is a film screening over at SnagFilms showing several films for free including We Will Not Die Like Dogs and India's Hidden Plague. Of course the UK government is responsible for deporting people...

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Here's a really powerful reminder that, in the words of bell hooks, feminism is for everyone: The definition of feminism does not require a diploma or other proof of graduation. It is not reserved for those who teach women's...

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Would you like to help Rape Crisis launch a national anti-rape campaign? Think about past public education campaigns like drink-driving or non-smoking - it really has the potential to make a difference, to change attitudes towards survivors and even...

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Yesterday was International End Violence Against Women Day. Following our coverage of the trial of the Sheffield man who raped his daughters over 25 years comes the news he was found guilty and sentenced to life. His minimum sentence (before...

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The UK now has specific legislation to try and prevent forced marriages. This includes the right to issue an injunction to prevent a young person being taken abroad and to force family members to disclose the location of a person...

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First up this piece about a Saudi all-girl rock band, The Accolade, who's music seems pretty good to me. Saudi Arabia's strict laws mean they can't perform publically, have photo's taken for album covers and rehearse in secret but the...

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I am sure I can't be the only one infuriated that some bloke's resignation from a reality entertainment programme has overshadowed all other news including the government's latest legislative announcements on prostitution. The BBC has contrasting views from two sex...

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This website (with hat-tip to C for sending it to me) is designed to encourage people to be more aware of the need for cervical screening - a right and good thing. But on looking at the website who would...

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Email just received from Chargrilled on this. All I can say is wow and go F Word! (Obviously the fact they were ever there in the first place is abhorrent but this is responsive). Dear Dr. Livesey, We would like...

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I can't work out whether to be appalled or applaud this story.... Reinforcing gender stereotypes by having an all-girls school plan a wedding as a learning tool (as that's obviously the most important thing they'll ever have to do). But...

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This might get long.... I have to join the calls for Helen Mirren to stop spouting on rape. It goes against the grain for me to want to silence a woman but sometimes speech can be deadlier than, well, pretty...

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But obviously we don't live in a society hostile to women's rights..... Description: A blue short-sleeved men's tshirt on which the slogan reads: Statistically 9 out of 10 people enjoy gangrape Description: A red short-sleeved men's tshirt on which the...

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Why is Germaine Greer writing about Michelle Obama's dress? Did I miss something? Is this really contemporary feminist analysis? The mind boggles. Mind it does that a lot, not least with this advertising campaign from the RSPCA Australia (warning distressing...

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Jacqui Smith has clarified the proposed law on men who buy sex. It will be criminal to purchase sex with a woman who is controlled for anothers profit - that is women who are pimped and trafficked. Of course this...

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First up this piece from the Daily Mail arguing that women over 50 years old are less bitchy than those under 50. So why do I dislike it? 1. It implicitly presents women over the age of 50 as being...

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Several sources are reporting an acid attack on schoolgirls in Kandahar. All the girls were wearing burqas which afforded some protection. The Taleban have denied responsibility. The UK gender pay gap has increased to 17.1% (overall and 36% for part...

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Full Size Version Here...

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Seemingly according to Jersey officials sexual abuse survivors should shut up. Now bear with me whilst I explain how I got to that conclusion... They have called the release of information about the investigations at Haute de la Garenne "misleading"....

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First up on Proposition 8 there is a great Open Letter at Racialious by Adele Carpenter: These articles mistakenly imply that the struggles for civil rights for LGBT people and communities of color are separate or even at odds with...

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Here's her letter to the President Elect. Nov. 5, 2008 Dear Brother Obama, You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know,...

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Here's what Obama is planning to do for women. All sounds remarkably, well, the starting of good things for women! Most positive measures seem to me to be acknowledging the gender impact of HIV and Aids (but sadly without the...

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Reprinted from contact: Dear Friends, There are less than 3 weeks to go before UNIFEM will hand over all signatures to the Say NO to Violence against Women campaign to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. So far, more than 490,000 people...

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BONG Man defends other men's right to not get long punishment for murdering partners/women if they show autonomous sexual behaviour. Apparently changes in the law which remove the "provocation" defence of infedelity ignores the impact of sexual betrayal on men...

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Channel 4 reports a study of sexual attitudes amongst 14-16 years. Key findings are that: boys thought it was acceptable to pressure girls into sex and to use alcohol to get them into bed. boys often used aggressive language about...

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First off, Momgrind has a fantastic list of ten reasons you should stop reading women's magazines. Mentoring seems to be coming under review - something I've long been interested in because, basically, it's what men do incredible well formally and...

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Those witty theatre types have done it again, this time by writing a lovely little piece of musical theatre which valorises child rape, child prostitution and the punters "rights" to have sex. Oh yes, that sounds like a fun night...

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That is all I could say to this amazing piece. That and almost crying at it's power......

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The first Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Conference, Toujours Rebelles, has issues a manifesto - it's damned impressive... Feminists Unite! DOWN WITH the colonial legacy of genocide and assimilation of Aboriginal peoples, particularly of Aboriginal women DOWN WITH the sexism and racism...

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First off, another woman has been stoned to death in Somalia by Islamist rebels. This barbaric practice has to end. In this case the eager crowd were told the victim was submitting voluntarily but clearly saw her struggling to prevent...

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First news from America that voters are influenced by the looks of female candidates - not really shocking news given that almost all groups are influenced in almost all settings by the looks of females from job interviews to personal...

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Racialious has an interesting piece here on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Woman is the Nigger of the World and thoughts on oppression, misogyny and racism. Worth a read and a ponder, really it is. In the same way Stroppyblog...

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A few more stories.... A US-Iranian student has been arrested for her work on the women's signature campaign in Iran which aims to change gender discriminatory laws. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has released some interesting reports on child poverty looking...

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A round up of some stories: Firstly violence against women is adapting to new technologies - a stalker used Facebook to facilitate his crimes which resulted in a woman having acid thrown over her. The perp has been found guilty...

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Despite controversy Wolf hits the nail on the head with some of this. Her advice to young women (written in 1992)? 1. Redefine what being a woman means. 2. Break the taboo around being self-sufficient including in terms of asking...

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Gok Wan continues his controversial and maybe confusing approach to women (see here and here) by hosting a naked beauty contest programme for Channel 4. Channel 4 have claimed it as a way of reintroducing feminism to a new audience...

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There is a film coming out called Trade which covers trafficking of women for sexual purposes into the US. It draws on a phenomenon coined the "Fields of Shame" in which trafficked women are forced to engage in prositution in...

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You can't have failed to notice that the Advertising Standards Agency (in the UK) has absolutely no conception of gender issues at all. In fact it really, really, really doesn't get why women get so angry at both advertising and...

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I first came across Louise Armstrong when I read Rocking the Cradle of Sexual Politics. I'm not going to say that it changed my life in a moment, but it had a pretty profound impact on my work and on...

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First off, lets start with South Africa because no-one else has mentioned it yet. Thabo Mbeki was forced to resign over the weekend by internal dissent in the party. It's likely that Jacob Zuma will be elected leader of the...

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In best Sesame Street styleee, this blog entry is brought to you by the themes politics and violence..... First up, newly elected leader of the Kadima party in Israel, Tzipi Livni, has been challenged by right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu...

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The Police have issues a statement today unambiguously apologising for giving the impression that there was violence initiated by transgender Pride attenders over a transgender woman being excluded from the womens toilets. Commander Steve Allen apologised for the "deep upset"...

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Over here is a great short piece from Canada on young feminists, intersectionality and the women's movement. Just how overwhelming a task it would be to define "today's feminism" hit me the other day when I read the program for...

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Welcome to another whirlwind whizz through news and views.... First off a cartoon from Slowpoke which neatly sums up, for me, some of the debates around Sarah Palin's presumed feminism. That said it's important to say misogynistic portrayals of Palin...

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Over at the BBC there is preview of some upcoming films about life around the world. The article on Eritrean women is particularly interesting. It focuses on three women, Leyla trying to decide whether to have her daughter circumcised, Amina...

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Feminist researcher Kristin Aune from University of Derby has been studying why women appear to be leaving the Church of England. Her conclusions? Women see more relevance in, for example, TV icons who promote female empowerment than in traditional religion....

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Quite a few interesting snippets today so bare with me. Apologies if we covered this already but on the recent selling sex theme read this article by Julie Bindel. And yes it does make clear it's not claiming to be...

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Londonist has an interview with London Assembly member Dee Doocey about the British Fashion Council's u-turn over issuing certificates proving that models' BMI is healthy. Some exceprts: Why are the younger, up and coming designers more likely to be in...

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On Maryam's story - Maryam was a speaker at the Million Women Rise event on International Women's Day. This is definately a thoughtful film about the identity of contemporary asian women's identity in the UK and about women's identity more...

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Renee at Feministe has a fabulous entry on why make up and fashion isn't empowerment for most women. When women who are middle/upper class engage in a debate as to whether an article of clothing, or makeup is suitably feminist...

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Starting more locally - the Welsh Assembly have confirmed girls will be offered the HPV vaccine. Here is the page hosting the Scottish TV advert, this is meant to have the English advert but it isn't working at the moment.......

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Research by the Poppy Project has found brothels in London selling women for £15 plus another £10 for unprotected sex although the average price was £62. 85% of them are in residential areas and they found around 28 brothels in...

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LaToya over at Feministe has written an amazing piece about Alida Brill and stories from the feminist world. She starts with a great and timely reminder... Every now and again, I’ll hear someone make a remark that goes something like...

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First off, hat tip to the readers who flagged this to us, thank you. The Yorkshire Building Society (well know gender activists there) did a survey about customers attitudes to gender roles. Now if you believed the first Telegraph article...

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According to the Times Higher Education Supplement, The Daily Star wrote a guide to British Uni's. The basis of their comparisons? Gender ratio and beer prices. Not only that but apparently the "best" was represented by the highest female to...

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Summer brings on all sorts of strange behaviours - like paying money to be suspended upside down at high speeds and whizzed through the air at increasingly scary (or fun!) velocities. I am talking about Theme Parks (obviously). But consider...

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Further to this (Jessica Ringrose and teaching feminism to girls), Joan Smith has written an excellent column over at The Times. Looking back, I'm amazed at how much we achieved - many feminist ideas, such as the right to maternity...

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Orangina - "naturally juicy" like pole dancing, porn and anthropomorphising animals to be "sex" objects....

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This time in the US, Raymond Daniel Thurmond held his wife and four children in a single width trailer home since 2005 and didn't allow them out. They lived off junk food and only one of the children, now aged...

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The TUC have (maybe worthwhile-ly) managed to state the bleeding obvious - migrant women are most likely to be paid less than the national minimum wage The research found: "worrying" trends including long working hours, insecure jobs and poor pay....

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OK so I'm not a sports fan but I just wanted to note - as no-one else seems to have so far - that the UK's first two medals were both won by women. Nicole Cooke in the Cycling Road...

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And whilst we're on confusions (see my last entry) I Blame the Patriarchy has a good example from Seattle news which confuses the idea of "prostitution" and the idea of kidnapping and forcing into sexual slavery. This news bulletin is...

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The Daily Mail seems to have excelled itself in confusion this week. First was Anna Pasternak's pity-party article about how she thinks responding to life's events quite well has left her single (her argument seems to be because she didn't...

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Apparently the Home Office is going to ban two chemicals which can be combined to create the date-rape drug GHB. Gamma-butyrolactone and 1,4 butanediol when swallowed together they turn into GHB and are used in some solvents and cleaning products....

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why the Guardian is giving this misogynistic killer airtime? Guardian reporter Tom Phillips has interviewed the man accused of killing Cara Burke. Warning *DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS* if you are likely to get upset at unapologetically misogynistic self pity....

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Irrespective of the topic I would encourage people to take this piece at Feministe to heart. Remember: the personal is political. The more we speak up about our experiences, the more people we find who have gone through the same...

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I couldn't decide between "some news stories you might have missed" and "some news stories to make you blood boil" so settled on "some news stories..." and you can complete as you wish. Gold stars for the best endings...

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According to the International Centre for the Advancement of Reproductive Health (CIFARH) men rape because they lack a "sound religious background". Now aside from the dodgy methods on this (they asked a general population sample, not a perpetrator sample, for...

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In case people haven't seen it, Julie Bindel writes a very eloquent and passionate piece in the Guardian on Violence Against Women here. She's reflecting particularly on the tenth anniversary of Emma Humphries death and the implications and shortfalls of...

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This is the picture that has to give us pause for thought. It shows the towel covered dead bodies of two Roma girls, Cristina, aged 16, and Violetta, 14, whilst Italian crowds sunbathe around them. As the Independent has...

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Further to this and other posts on the same issues I was prompted to wonder about harassment and violence when driving or driving related. The prompt? A guy threatening to dowse me in petrol today for daring to question his...

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Gary Nunn, in the Guardian, has committed that cardinal error trying to determine for feminism what feminism is. His target - weddings. Now he makes some interesting points, albeit to back up some spurious argument (like the reason business...

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Further to this story, Woman's Hour had a "conversation" (aka row) between Sylvia Tidy-Harris, the Managing Director of womenspeakers.co.uk and Sarah Veale, Head of Equality and Employment Rights at the TUC. Sylvia Tidy-Harris basically says, as a small business owner,...

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In Surviving Sexual Violence Liz Kelly talks about the Woozle Effect - the notion that something repeated often enough will attain the status of a common-sense "fact" whether it has any truth to it or not. I start with this...

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For the first time the Suzy Lamplugh Trust has issued safety advice to men. Not sure whether to view that as a victory for parity or just a way of ensuring we all feel vulnerable all of the time (note...

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Sudan's president Omar Al Bashir has been indited for genocide by the International Criminal Court for the crimes in Darfur including the murder of hundreds and thousands of people and the sexual abuse a systematic rape of women and children....

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where crimes against women are fair game for "edgy" comedy. Fast on the heels of Vegas-gate (and I'm really not reopening that discussion) comes Russel Brand's belief that ringing the Police purporting to have seen a serial sex offender is...

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Further to rather overblown press presumptions that Women's Studies is dead (see here, here and here, there is good news on the horizon. As hinted at here Ruskin College Oxford is recruiting for it's Y1 course in Women's Studies....

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Gosh it's blogging overdrive from me today, makes up for being quiet for a few days I guess! So....pertinent to other discussions by gendered violence deniers on this site here's a study from Wales which shows that 4 in 10...

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The BBC has just reported that 500 trafficked people including 12 children have been freed at the end of the Pentameter 2 operation. Lets just hope the Government does treat the trafficked women as victims of crime and not as...

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Further to this Jill Saward has written this piece on why she's standing for the by-election. Needless to say, it being a Comment is Free piece so far she's been described as "pathetic" (robertdaniel), told to "grow up" (GoingGoingGordon), that...

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Is midwifery a feminist issue? How do feminists practice midwifery? What are feminists currently thinking about childbearing? What do feminists think about midwives? This is a ‘call out’ to feminists who would like to contribute to an upcoming ‘zine’ about...

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Kira Cochrane has written a very cogent analysis of the ways in which women are still discriminated against. I found myself tripping over signs, left and right, that not only does the feminist movement still have far to go, but...

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First off, Jill Saward, campaigner for victims rights and against sexual violence (also the woman who was raped in the Ealing Vicarage rape case but that's not her sole identity, dammit!) is standing against David Davis in his egotistical by-election....

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Great news from the division lobbies of Westminster where the Ten Minute Rule Bill on the re-categorisation of Lap Dancing clubs to Sex Encounter Establishments was completely un-opposed today. So there is now a mandate to relicense them as Sex...

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No this time because of legislation but because the Department of Health has published it's annual statistical report on abortions. So here are the key headline facts: The total number of abortions performed on UK resident women in 2007 was...

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Dear Radio 4, Firstly Owen and Amy Philcox didn't become "victims to their parent's acrimonious divorce" they became victims of their father who killed them. Lets stop writing out men's responsibility for their actions shall we? Especially as this was...

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Sorry for the rather fragmentary nature of this entry but just wanted to highlight a few things before going back to being deeply immersed in work again.... Firstly Things to Make your blood boil include this piece on Wii Fit...

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Over at Genderberg is this piece on a new paradigm for thinking about prostitution. And it's fabulous! To cut to the core, it argues new moves in Sweden and Scotland are part of a move from a Build-A-Better-Whore paradigm to...

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So Jodie Prenger has been named the new Nancy for the christmas opening version of Oliver! Congratulations! But I was disquieted somewhat by the ways in which the women were encouraged to talk about the role. I'm thinking about such...

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The Guardian has a really interesting article on women with autism. It flags up that the major symptoms of autism tend to be behaviours assumed as masculine taken to pathological extremes (for example social awkwardness or obsession about a topic)....

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On BBC Breakfast news some parents are complaining about a booklet produced by the NSPCC designed to inform children about how to report abuse. The booklet, which adopts a youth magazine/comic book format, covers all forms of abuse but it's...

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The HFEA continues to provoke debate. But on this morning's Today programme Iain Duncan-Smith (former Conservative leader) gave us an object-lesson in misusing evidence grossly. His argument was that there was "overwhelming evidence" that children need fathers (I'll talk about...

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Further to this there are a number of amendments to the Act being proposed lowering the time limit for terminations (with hat-tip to Left Women's Network. These are (Proposer: Amendment): Edward Leigh MP ‘In section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act...

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This is the Marital Rating Scale developed in the 1930s to assess wives. Basically it's a series of merits and demerits based on assumed gender traits (including that women should be subservient to men). Whats galling, and takes this...

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I've heard of oblivious but Jack Straw has seemingly only just noticed that our judges are overwhelming white and male. Now he claims he wants to do something about it. Perhaps that will take less time than the 20 years...

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I'm liking this short article on why feminism needs to still exist from Pasadena Weekly (of all places)!...

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Shelia's Wheels, that doyenne of spangly dresses and hairy blokes in drag, has done a survey which found that whilst 55% of women wouldn't invite a man back to their home* on a first date, 82% would let a male...

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Maybe what he should be arguing for is for more men to take responsibility for involvement in their children's education and in the low paid, low value world of primary education. Instead he says primary schools (for which read women...

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there comes news of this case from the US in which a woman fought off a sexual assault assailant, only to be punished by a crowd of laughing men with a second sexual assault. Melissa Bruen was walking home during...

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(Dear regular readers, we turned off comments on this and the previous post because of the numbers of comments just generally discussing the case not from a feminist perspective - there are mainstream news blog boards for that. So sorry...

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Perhaps not the most direct or effective method but the British government has launched it's new campaign to inform men using women engaged in prostitution that they may be breaking the law. So there we have it. The poster, which...

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Should really go to Letterbox Library which has all sorts of amazing books including themes of refugees and asylum, disability and illess, anti-slave narratives, fostering and adoption and peace and conflict. Also does teachers packs for various keystages. Marvellous!...

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Jezebel has paid an inordinate sum of money to bring us this example of the cynical digital manipulation of women's bodies. It's a photo of Faith Hill, on the right as it appeared on the cover of Redbook and on...

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It has been pointed out on another feminist forum that the way to really hurt these sorts of men is in their pockets. Vegas is the voice of PG Tips at the moment. Here is their contact page to complain...

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EDIT: Johnny Vegas has now apparently started legal proceedings over the article by the Guardian, one assumes for defamation but that's not clear at this point. He's appointed a firm with a history of pursuing cases against internet publishers (Schillings)....

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I Blame the Patriarchy has written a response to Khalid Diab's call for men to be accepted as full feminists. This guy, writing at the Guardian, is under the impression that, not only is feminism about “equality,” but that he...

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Readers of The F Word over in (East?) Yorkshire might be pleased to hear there is a new feminist group. Unfortunately they met on 28th (and I didn't know until today) but there was a piece in the Scarborough Evening...

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Not mine for a change.... Jessica Valenti, over at Feministing, has been reflecting on the recent racism issues in the blogosphere and publishing worlds. It includes this admission. But I think that I’ve been focusing so hard on changing mainstream...

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(With a hat-tip to Jezebel) A US chat show (Tyra) had a segment really on an 18 year old adult film actress called Summer. Nothing new in that. Except her manager is her father. And her manager is "responsible" for...

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This is an article by Rebecca Solnit called Men Explain Things to Me and it is in equal measure hilarious and frightening accurate. I advise reading it and enjoying it, and then recommending it to every man you know......

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Reports are emerging from Austria of a woman held captive for 24 years by her father and repeatedly raped and forced to bear him seven children. One child died. A series of underground rooms equipped for sleeping and cooking, and...

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According to Beyond Feminism you can buy your very own Bin the Bunny tshirt for just £12. £7 from each sale goes to supporting the Radical Feminist Summer Gathering in Manchester on 26th July....

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The Guardian has profiled Carmen Callil who founded the Virago Press. Carmen Callil set up Virago to publish books that celebrated women - and dreamt of shelves of green paperbacks all over the world. The Modern Classics list gave voice...

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Hat tip to Feministing I have always had a difficulty with the sexism of the Wayan's brothers' work whilst at times appreciating their criticism of white privilege. But this put an end to any sense of latitude I had previously...

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I feel kind of torn on this one because it kind of suggests we should feel sorry for men who are just doing their best to understand nasty women's ambiguous statements. Or maybe I'm just angry this morning... Anyway American...

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If you can judge a civilised society by the way it treats it's children then we're in trouble. The BBC reports two interesting things this morning. Girls are more likely to self harm than boys and 1 in 5 parents...

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Evidence from New Philanthropy Capital shows that the British public give more money to a single Devon donkey sanctuary than to Women's Aid, Eaves and and Refuge combined. Yes dear readers that's more to one group of donkeys than to...

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Today it's reported if you want to conceive a boy you should eat breakfast cereals, bacon and banana's. For a girl you should go on a diet. A survey of 740 pregnant women found that boys were slightly more likely...

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Phil Taylor, local Conservative Councillor for Ealing, has been making some rather rash comments about Southall Black Sisters on his blog. Including these little gems: One of the basic chores of being a charity/voluntary organisation is justifying what you do...

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Or at least Louise appears on Austrian Radio.... I've been lucky enough to be a guest interviewee for Austria's FM4 radio station on matters feminist. We've got their permission to upload the files here. So one is their International Women's...

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This article really made me smile. I'm a feminist who got married for all the unromantic reasons (next of kin rights, transferring my pension rights to him upon death). If it weren't that legal transfer without marriage was so difficult...

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An interesting snippet from Amber Tamblyn and America Ferrera (and Hilary Clinton obviously!). Worth watching....

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There is an interesting post over at thefword.org: food, fat and feminism about what constitutes activism. I consider activism to be any action that serves to disrupt, oppose, or defy the established social or political status quo. The most effective...

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Peter Tatchell has been talking about Sylvia Pankhurst, which is all fine and lovely, but this line is just another example of how we get rendered invisible... There are no contemporary women rights campaigners who come anywhere near Sylvia’s radicalism...

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The Home Office has released figures showing that the new Specialist Domestic Violence Courts have increased prosecution rates to over 70% overall. Sadly the Home Office is now saying it's earmarked the £1 million pounds for tackling domestic and sexual...

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Although not an end to rape which would be the ideal.... Harriet Harman, Minister for Women, has announced £1,000,000 in cross-departmental funding to help save Rape Crisis Centres. AS End Violence Against Women and Rape Crisis has pointed this can...

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Whitbread prize winner Tim Lott has said that the Orange Prize for Fiction, the only women-only award, is (wait for it) "discriminatory, sexist and perverse". According to Mr Lott women no longer have a tough time in writing and publishing...

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The first charges have been brought on Jersey. Gordon Claude Wateridge has been charged with sexual assaults of girls between 1969 and 1979 when he was warden at Haut de la Garenne. Oklahoma has decided that a man putting his...

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This story in The Times has prompted an avalanche of responses (about which more later). The basic story is that four Eton boys have been suspended and are under internal investigation for sexual assault and theft from a girl from...

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This just in... *bong* (aka Big Ben sound effects) Motherhood affects women's pay *bong* Women without children most likely to be doing unpaid overtime On the former research has shown that having children results in a drop in pay of...

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I was passed a local newspaper by a student of mine the other week. She was (rightly) questioning the contradictions of two stories within the paper. The paper was the Oxford Mail, but it's not alone in struggling to cover...

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Two quick news items on this.... Constance McCullagh has written in the New Statesman about her experience of using Rape Crisis 20 years ago and her concerns about women (and men) who need the service now. From The New Statesman...

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There is an interesting piece over at the Guardian about one woman's decision to not have the Down's Syndrome amnio test. But if, like me, you are a disabled mother-to-be, there will be one more question from the well-meaning inquirer....

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For highlighting this ad for Wii. There is so little I can say about this I won't even bother trying. Please someone tell me it's a hoax.....?...

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The European Union information society commissioner, Viviane Reding, has argued that the ICT industry needs to promote itself on the basis of not being boring but rather that: "IT jobs can be very sexy indeed." Yes because that's what's driving...

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Feministe.com has Put up a list of how people try to avoid dealing with racism, it's fab and so I'm putting the highlights here.... The Bootstrap Myth “Racism is a thing of the past… this is a free country, and...

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Here's some of the news stories from around the world on and around International Women's Day... Starting over in Jersey, there was a vigil for the victims at the Haut de la Garenne children's home. It was designed to break:...

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We can sell something that looks like a penis as long as it doesn't vibrate and something which vibrates so long as it doesn't look like a penis Rightwing legislators are trying to strike down the de-criminalisation of sex toys...

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A global review by Amnesty International of girls experience of schooling has found that The World Health Organisation found the most common place where sexual harassment and coercion are experienced is in school 50% of schoolgirls in Malawi said they...

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So let's start with womanhood shall we.... According to Penelop Trunk at Boston.com we should be planning to have children earlier as Generation X is suffering from increased infertility. Of course she offers no evidence for this whatsoever, relying instead...

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The Guardian reports that Karl Taylor has been convicted of murdering Kate Beagley on their "first date". I put that in inverted commas because often a friendly relationship is called "dating" in Court and I don't know whether this was...

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Rebecca Walker (daughter of Alice and founder of Third Wave Foundation) has written a piece about why some in-fighting is kind of important. She's an eloquent writer but I will try to summarise her main points: 1. The exclusionary practices...

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Sarah Sands has written a piece in The Independent about how feet and shoes have become a marker of feminine identity. "The pain that women endure for beautiful shoes is, like childbirth, unknown to men...High heels are to us what...

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I am continually frustrated by people who can't get my name right, I mean it's not difficult, it's not double barrelled (which leads to with or without hyphen dilemmas), it's not oddly spelt, it's not got silent letters none of...

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With reference to Jess's fab post on feminists destroying the English Language there is a fab article here on Why Sexist Language Matters....

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The Guardian published an article over the weekend on one woman's experiences of what it's like to be fat. It contained this vignette: We were on the ferry, returning from a break in Ireland, queueing for food. When I saw...

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Over at SmartGirlsKnow there is a republication of a 1943 tips sheet for managers of how to get more out of their workers. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters....

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This is Playboy's latest wheeze. Not only is this profoundly insulting to women and intrusive (note it's outside their store) but it also reduces men to the level of sniggering pre-pubescent's. Insulting all round.......

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The new campaign comes in response to an evaluation report on whether questioning practices had changed since barristers had to request permission to question on prior sexual experiences. In coming to a decision on whether or not the evidence...

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Some interesting reflections arise out of NBCs "Create a Hero" exercise. Perusing the results has got me thinking. For example, Week 1 asked about looks, nationality and location and created these results: Male Hero Birth Place: 43% The Americas (43%)...

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David Cameron has apparently promised that a third of ministerial posts will go to women if he's elected. That's obviously a comfort given we make up 52% of the population and given the Conservatives are likely to elect less than...

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The Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, has outlawed use of "feminist alterations" such as refering to God as "the creator" rather than "the father, son and holy spirit". The Vatican decreed that anyone being baptised using alternate phrases such as "creator", "redeemer"...

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According to AOL music whilst the Spice Girls were about "fun feminism" (I assume as opposed to the un-fun nasty dour sort) we have now entered a phase of music being about male sexual titillation. Now, of course, you could...

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There is a moving and interesting film over at Menstrual Poetry - a poetry cycle reflecting on one woman's experience of abuse and life-experience. “Alison’s Cycle” is a reading of poetry from inside of the soul that reflects 5 days...

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Disparate stories but all worth a mention.... First, and rather worryingly, a Nigerian State Assembly member beat a female opposition politician into a coma for behaving "like a prostitute" because she repeatedly criticised him on the radio. Alhaji Labaran Abdu...

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There's an really interesting piece over at Mama(e) in Transition about the way society and feminism talks (or ignores) motherhood and, in particular, birth mothers in adoption issues....

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EVAW (End Violence Against Women) has produced a lovely set of pictoral representations of where services for women experiencing violence against women are lacking (and good). Here are some of their findings... A third of local authorities in the UK...

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I'll never forget one birthday party I had a few years ago where an old schoolfriend of mine had brought her new boyfriend. We'd chatted for a while, he'd been talking geek stuff with my then boyfriend and then I...

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It's not often we recommend an article by a bloke, but Sunny Hundal has written a great piece on why Southall Black Sisters is a. important and b. meeting government aims but c. still being delisted for funding. The protest...

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Yes but only as a way to curb immigration apparently. Rahila Gupta has written on just this topic: how the proposed Forced Marriage legislation is actually a way of limiting immigration dressed up as protecting women's rights. You can read...

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In a week where Levi Bellfield, Stephen Wright and Mark Dixie were sentences for the rapes and murders of women - an extreme version of the rampant misogyny in society - the BBC seems to have taken a rather odd...

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Kira Cochrane has written an interesting article in the light of Levi Bellfield's conviction for the murder and attempted murder of three women. But she starts with, what appears to me, to be a redundant question - "how could it...

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Photographer Patricia Nuss has been compiling pictures of feminists and short written statements about their feminism. It's an interesting snapshot. Well worth a look but this is my favourite: I was the girl who said, “no. I am not a...

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Sarah Churchwell has written a thought-provoking article over at Comment is Free about how women lose out at the Oscars unless it's ring-fenced as a woman's award. In 1928, at the first Academy Awards, there were 15 categories. Men won...

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Not the latest Nectar card offer but an initiative in the US to create a pointillist work of art in which each dot in the main picture represents a survivor of sexual violence and each dot in the surrounding area...

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‘I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.’ D.H Lawrence This is an invitation for women to participate...

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According to a new report women's lives have become significantly worse since the Allied Forces invasion of Afghanistan than they were before. The ongoing war and consequent rise in poverty is leading to greater numbers of families selling their daughters,...

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On the one hand I am ecstatic that researchers seem to have got a step closer to finding a new way to prevent the spread of HIV. On the other hand I am saddened that scientific research again privileges men's...

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There is an excellent post over at Racialicious pointing out the whitewashing comic book character Vixen from black woman to white woman. The original Vixen is on the left, the new version on the right (right hand character). Apparently this...

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Anyone else just seen it? The programme was covering the sentencing of Steve Wright for the murder of five women in Ipswich. Now other than their continued and insistence that these weren't women but "prostitutes" (as if engaging in sex...

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It just occurred to me, whilst catching up on my blog reading, that this is the first US election I've seen where Race and Gender are words used during the campaign (rather than afterwards to explain why millions of voters...

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Way back in 1970 Anna Koedt wrote The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm arguing that the vagina is not designed as a pleasure centre and therefore attributions of frigidity based on not reaching vaginal climax (as opposed to clitoral...

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Robin Morgan has written an excellent piece on Comment Is Free about the Democrat race for nomination and pointing up some of the fallacies of the campaign and what real social change would mean. For example: Goodbye to pretending the...

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Actor Ellen Page, hot on the heels of her success in Hard Candy has dismissed questions that her new film, Juno is pro-life. "I call myself a feminist when people ask me if I am, and of course I am...

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Leslie Douglas, head of popular music at BBC 6 (and also Head of BBC2) has said ""It's partly how you talk about music. Men tend to be more interested in the intellectual side of the music, the tracks, where albums...

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Various offerings at this Festival including: 1st March 'Talk to Me' by US women director Kasi Lemmons (Tricycle Theatre) 2nd Mar Beah: A Black Women Speaks highlighting women's role in the Civil Rights Movement and programme of films by african...

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Australian MP Bob Such has claimed that women wearing certain tshirts are encouraging sex attacks (he doesn't seem to specify whether against themselves or other women) and demeaning their sex. According to him "some clothing could lead to men...

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In the same week the UN Security Council condemns the use of children as soliders and sexual violence against them as a tool of war, it is reported that the Kenyan conflict is utilising rape of women and children (some...

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John Kampfner has resigned from the editorship of the New Statesman. This is not what I am celebrating. What is worth celebrating, no matter how little significance the Guardian gives it*, is that Sue Matthias, deputy editor, is taking over...

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Lastminute's adverts sink to a new low.... Tantrums. Sulking. Tears. And that's just the men. Forgetting Valentine's Day can make the dreamiest love stories a living nightmare, so make sure you've got it sorted with our last chance gifts and...

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Unite's rather wacky but good video on the scandal of Lilets - if you haven't heard about this until now, watch this and will be explained.......

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No I'm not going to comment on punctuation and grammatical errors on the F Word (as one of the main offenders that would be hypocritical) but rather on the misuse of terms with very gender based implications. Take this morning's...

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Copied from Feminist Philosophers because, frankly, I couldn't put it better.... UK Members of parliament are urging action to close the pay gap between men and women. (Currently at 18% for full-time workers and 40% for part-time.) Meanwhile, Birmingham council...

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But this time it's not just a dubious allegation it's double jeopardy. Iran has surpassed itself with this one. Zohreh Kabiri-niat and her sister Azar have been tried for adultery. The substance of the allegations is that Zohreh's (seemingly quite...

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Or is this just a bit ridiculous? A woman worker on an oil rig will appear in course today over the evacuation of the oil rig over the weekend. Apparently the story goes like this. The woman had a dream...

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Australian car dealerships have just been given a wake-up call that women are indeed knowledgable customers. An online car magazine asked for women's experiences of buying a new car and found that a quarter said they were ignored in showrooms,...

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The Telegraph, picking up a story from the Times Higher, is reporting the Women's Studies is dead. Yet again I find myself in the throes of either invisibility or non-existence. I know Holly is commenting on the laziness of the...

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Of use to those of us who find ourselves banging our heads on the brickwall of male intransgience - how male privilege operates in 46 easy points. My particular favourites include: 38. If I have a wife or live-in girlfriend,...

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Whilst the Rowan William's publicity seeking speech wendles its merry way onwards Civitas today joined the fray on the Radio 4 news programme. Why is this of interest to us? Because their argument was that Sharia law should not be...

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Lets start with the negative shall we? New Zealander Karen Walker has received rave reviews for her collection of clothes for adult women based on childswear and dolls' clothes. And Edwardian childswear and dolls' clothes at that. Edwardian times being...

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First off is the news that women are opting for Caesarian Section births because they are scared of childbirth. A study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology questioned 496 first-time mothers with a healthy pregnancy at...

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A new web radio service has been launched. Women's Parliamentary Radio aims to be the "Women's Hour of Westminster". It aims to report fairly and accurately on policy issues of concern to women and their families, broadcasting interviews with...

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The man suspected of killing teenage model Sally Anne Bowman had admitted to having sex with Bowman's dead body but denies murdering her. Mark Dixie claims he was inebriated after birthday celebrations where he was angry because his girlfriend hadn't...

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Airbrushing, as commonly used in the media can turn Kelly Osborne from this to this . You can listen to the show, The Surgery here....

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Abortion Rights reports that the first anti-abortion amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill has been defeated in the House of Lords. The amendment, which would have banned abortion on the grounds of severe foetal abnormality, was defeated 22...

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Todays headlines show both how the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating but also how women's rights are still seen as a threat. Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, a 23 year old journalism student, has been sentenced to death for downloading and distributing...

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Launched back in November but not sure we covered it then. For every signature for the first 100,000 there is a £1 donation promised to Unifem so please, sign it and get your friends to sign it too. So...

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India faces many problems as a nation but internal differences reinforce the position of some of the most oppressed. In face of the discrimination faced by some members of society women have banded together to form the Gulabi Gang....

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This case from America has to raise questions for us all.... James Allen Selby entered the flat of Jenny Bush, gagged and bound her with duct tape and rapes her at knifepoint before fleeing. Bush frees herself, reports the crime...

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According to a story in the Jan 18th edition female scientists are less likely to be published if the peer reviewers know they are female. Gender, nationality and nepotism have also been implicated in decisions for research fellowships. It's based...

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Annoyingly this is a take two entry due to the system eating the last one, so forgive me if it's shorter and terser than the defunct, disappered original! I am sometimes behind the times (like I hadn't read Lynne's excellent...

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I just put this together quickly for something else put thought it worth sharing here. You know those moments when people claim that violence against women is rare and the majority of men are being harshly and unfairly judged on...

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We've all seen how children's clothing has become more and more sexualised, well the next move is apparently waxing for pubescents. Oh yes braxilians for the pre-teens.... girl.au.com, a website for the nine-fifteen year market contains a couple of articles...

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